November 24 – Gotham FC are queens of all they survey after a 1–0 win over the Washington Spirit on Saturday night, to claim their second NWSL Championship in three years at PayPal Park in San Jose.
With the final staged on neutral soil, three thousand miles from both clubs, there were fears that the atmosphere would be dampened, but the 18,000-strong sell-out crowd created a carnival fitting for any championship game. With the match airing on free terrestrial TV with CBS and streaming on Paramount+, the league had a primetime showcase worthy of the stage.
The Gotham victory wrapped up a genuine underdog story. Juan Carlos Amorós’ side became the first eighth seed in league history to win the championship, and they did it the hard way by knocking out the top-seeded Kansas City Current, then the Orlando Pride. After limping into the play-offs, not a lot was expected from the ‘Big Apple’ outfit, but the beauty of one-off matches means no one can be discounted.
The match-deciding moment came in the 80th minute. Substitute Bruninha slipped a ball across the top of the box, and US international Rose Lavelle found the back of the net for her second career goal in an NWSL final. The goal earned her the MVP title and cemented her place as one of the league’s biggest big-game players.
“We’ve had a rollercoaster of a year so I think to get this is the icing on the cake,” Lavelle said. She added that despite an uneven regular season, “we know the talent that we have in the locker room… the sky’s the limit.”
The Spirit had flashes through Rosemonde Kouassi, but defender Emily Sonnett repeatedly came up with key interventions, including a crucial block on Leicy Santos.
Washington pushed late, but Gotham’s back line held firm to close out a remarkable, history-making run.
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